In his four 'payout' appearances on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour this year, Scott Roberts has won twice and been runner-up and fifth, once each. He chalked up his second 2017 victory on the tour with an undefeated run on Saturday, June 10. The event drew 27 entrants to Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC.
Roberts advanced through the field to a winners' side semifinal match against Brian Pate. Chad Weachter, in the meantime, faced Anthony Mabe in the other winners' side semifinal. Roberts moved into the hot seat match with a double hill win over Pate (8-5, with Pate racing to 6). He was joined by Weachter, who downed Mabe 6-5 (Mabe racing to 7). Roberts gave up only one rack in claiming the hot seat over Weachter 8-1.
On the loss side, Mabe picked up Brian Bryant, who'd eliminated Tanya Parsley 9-2, and Bo Blakely 9-1 to reach him. Pate drew Jeremy Faassen, who'd gotten by Stevie McClinton and Ed Leggett, both 5-3. It was Pate and Mabe handing Faassen and Bryant their second loss and advancing to the quarterfinals; Pate, 6-3 over Faassen and Mabe, 7-4 over Bryant.
Mabe won the quarterfinal match over Pate 7-4, earning himself a re-match against Weachter in the semifinals. Mabe won that re-match 7-4 for a shot at Roberts in the finals. Roberts spoiled Mabe's come-from-the-loss-side bid 8-3 in the finals.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Corner Pockets, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for June 17-18 will be hosted by a new venue for the tour, Billiards and Brews in Knoxville, TN.
Gatlin Askins punctuated a March, undefeated win on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour by shutting out his opponent, Ron Frank, in the finals of that event. On Saturday, September 10, Askins went undefeated again, though he allowed his opponent, Chris Baumann, three racks in the final. The event drew 34 entrants to the Corner Pocket in Fayetteville, NC.
Askins and J.C. Autry advanced to the hot seat match, once Askins had downed Brian Pate 8-1 in one winners' side semifinal, and Autry sent Daniel Adams west, double hill, in the other. Askins chalked up another 8-1 victory to claim the hot seat over Autry.
After a defeat at the hands of Adams in a winners' side quarterfinal, Baumann embarked on a five-match, loss-side streak that would give him a shot at Askins in the finals. He got by J.R. Post, double hill, and Earl Davis 6-3 to pick up Pate. Adams drew Matt Oxindine, who'd gotten by Chad Weachter, double hill, and Harold Locklear 6-4.
Baumann and Oxindine handed Pate and Adams their second straight loss; Baumann downing Pate 6-2, as Oxindine just did get by Adams, double hill (6-6, with Adams racing to 7). Baumann ended Oxindine's streak in the quarterfinals 6-3.
Baumann then eliminated Autry 6-2 in the semifinals to get his shot at Askins. Askins, though, ended Baumann's streak with an 8-3 win in the only set necessary in the finals.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Corner Pocket, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta-13 racks, and Ruthless Billiards Apparel. The next stop on the Viking Cues' Q City 9-Ball Tour, a $250-added event, scheduled for September 17-18, will be hosted by Mickey Milligan's in New Bern, NC.
Brian Bryant, who races to 9 during stops on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, spends a lot of his time battling opponents who have to win fewer games; most in the vicinity of 6 or 7 games. In his final four matches during the March 19 stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour, he used victories over opponents racing to 12 (Keith Bennett), 7 (Daniel Adams) and 6 (Colin Hall) to go undefeated and claim the title. The event drew 44 entrants to Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC.
Daniel Adams took Bryant to double hill in a winners' side semifinal, before Bryant prevailed to face Keith Bennett, who'd earned his spot in the winners' side final by shutting out Robert Ash 12-0. Bryant claimed the hot seat 9-5 over Bennett and waited for the return of Colin Hall.
Hall, sent to the loss side in an early-round, double hill match by Ash, went to work on a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would make him Bryant's last opponent. In loss-side wins #3 and #4, he defeated Mark Millwood, 6-2 and survived a double hill battle against Chris Baumann, which set him up for a re-match against Ash. Adams drew Brian Pate, who'd gotten by Andy Bowden and Christy Norris, both 6-4.
Hall eliminated Ash 6-2 and in the quarterfinals, faced Pate, who'd downed Adams 6-3. Hall took the quarterfinal match versus Pate, double hill, and then eliminated Bennett, who in his two straight losses chalked up fewer racks than he had in his winners' side semifinal match versus Ash (12-8). Bryant completed his undefeated run with a 9-3 victory over Hall in the finals.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Corner Pockets, as well as sponsors Viking Cues, Delta-13 Racks, Goplaypool.com, and Heidrich Custom Cues.
Christy Norris has been around the pool scene for just over a dozen years now, chalking up event victories all over the Carolinas and competing on a number of WPBA events. To this lengthening resume, on Saturday, January 23, Norris added a victory on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. The event, which drew 38 entrants to Corner Pockets in Fayetteville, NC, featured the largest field of females (10) to ever play on the tour. Norris went undefeated to claim the title.
She had to get by Walt Baldwin twice to do it. Both times required a final and deciding game against an opponent who needed to win one more game than she did (8) to claim a match victory. She'd sent Robert Ash to the loss bracket in a winners' side semifinal 6-2, as Baldwin was sending Earl Davis over 8-3. In their first of two double hill battles, Norris prevailed to sit in the hot seat.
On the loss side, Ash picked up Justin Martin, who'd gotten by Brian Pate and Geno Hernandez, both 9-5 to reach him. Davis drew Robert Otto, who'd defeated Chris Baumann and Will Stevens, both 7-2. The Roberts went down; Robert Otto to Davis, double hill, and Robert Ash to Martin 9-2.
Martin downed Davis 9-4 in the quarterfinals and had his loss-side streak stopped by Baldwin 8-7 in the semifinals. Baldwin came back at Norris a second time, with the same result; a double hill fight that ended with the Norris victory that secured, for her gender, the first win on a Q City 9-Ball Tour stop.
It's the point where the thinking rubber meets the playing road. An undefeated competitor in the hot seat faces an opponent who's warded off elimination for a long time on the loss side of the bracket. The final match goes to double hill and in that last deciding game, the two face different kinds of stress that amount to the same thing; to have worked so hard and have it come to this – one game to decide, as if the rest of the tournament hadn't even happened.
And so it went for Matt Fralin and Chad Pike as they squared off for the first time in the finals of the January 16 stop on the Q City 9-Ball Tour. Fralin in the hot seat, Pike at the end of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak. Scored tied at 6-6. Fralin hung on to win it and complete the undefeated run. The event drew 33 entrants to Breaktime Billiards in Cary, NC.
As Pike was toiling away on the loss side, Fralin advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Alex Johnson. Brian Pate, in the meantime, faced Bobby Glenn. Fralin sent Johnson over to the loss side 7-3, as Pate was downing Glenn 6-1. As Fralin and Pate squared off in the hot seat match, both were mindful of the fact that they'd gotten to that point with the help and sponsor support of their (Doug) Beasley Custom Cue. Fralin's Beasley Custom Cue defeated Pate's Beasley Custom Cue 7-4, and Fralin was in the hot seat.
Over on the loss side, Pike was working his way towards a meet-up with Glenn. He won his third and fourth loss-side matches against Zack Wilson, double hill, and Michael Robertson 7-3. Johnson drew Robert Ash, who'd defeated the man responsible for sending Pike to the loss side, Rashad Brooks, 4-3 and shut out J.T. Ringgold.
Pike and Ash advanced to the quarterfinals; Pike, 7-3 over Glenn, and Ash, 4-3 over Johnson. Pike then chalked up his third straight 7-3 win (over Ash), and let Brian Pate get one more on him in a 7-4 semifinal victory.
So there they were; Fralin and Pike down to this. Last match, became last game, became last ball, became an undefeated run for Fralin and a Q City 9-Ball title.
It's been said (reportedly, by Albert Einstein, but nobody seems to know for sure) that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. In addition to it being, reportedly, the most overused cliche of all time (Salon, August 6, 2013), it's obvious that Einstein didn't play a lot of pool.
After somewhere between 30 and 40 attempts to win a Great Southern Billiard Tour stop in his own room, Mickey Milligan's in New Bern, NC, Gerry Shepherd became the first owner, ever, to win a stop on that tour. He went undefeated through a field of 40 to win the $1,000-added event that drew 40 to his place on the weekend of July 25-26.
"That was awesome," said Shepherd, moments after collecting the trophy and dough. "Surprised a lot of people. Surprised me, too."
In fairness to the insanity definition, Shepherd wasn't exactly doing the same thing over and over. In fact, he was doing things quite differently. He'd had some health issues arise in his family, and was looking ahead to some back surgery. He'd come to the realization, in the face of those issues, that "pool isn't all there is about life."
"And that," he said, "is when I started shooting better."
With players racing to their rating, Shepherd played as a "3" in this event, against a field with a few "7"s and "8"s. He faced one of those "8"s – J.T. Ringold – in a winners' side semifinal, while Robert Ash (a "4") got into it with Russell Sasser (a "7"). Shepherd defeated Ringold 3-6, and in the hot seat match, faced Ash, who'd sent Sasser to the loss side 4-5. Shepherd claimed the hot seat 3-2 and waited on what turned out to be the return of Brian Pate.
Pate had advanced through to a winners' side quarterfinal before chalking up his first loss; to Sasser. He moved to the loss side, defeating Wayne Miller and Al Booner, both 6-2, to meet up with Ringold. Sasser had drawn Scott Crain, 5-1 winner over Mike Gaskins, and double hill survivor versus Greg Smith.
Crain spoiled any re-match hopes that Pate may have been entertaining, by defeating Sasser 5-3. Pate joined Crain in the quarterfinals with a double hill win over Ringold. Pate took the quarterfinal 6-2 over Crain, and then fought tooth and nail to a double hill win over Ash in the semifinals.
Pate needed six games to claim the title. Shepherd needed three. They both got three, and Shepherd became the GSBT's first tour stop winning owner.
The next stop on the Great Southern Billiard Tour, scheduled for the weekend of August 1-2, will be hosted by Shore Thing Billiards in Myrtle Beach, SC.
